dropping forks

Baronvonbomb said:

Is it possible to drop the forks without a front paddock stand?

I have 3 rings showing and want to try it on 4.

The only way I could see it done, is if one fork leg was released from the yoke at a time and slid up and re-tightened. It does seem a bit of a bodge method though.:dunno

Click to expand...

Worked fine for me :thumbup:thumbup

Well worth a try though. I bought the bike with 3 rings showing, tried 4 and liked it better - gets more of the weight forward and feels more planted. Thought I'd try 5 rings but went back to 4 for me its about the right balance. Can be prone to a bit of a headshake when 'really on it' out of a bend (esp if bumpy) but nothing too excessive.
Good luck

ye thats how i did mine this afternoon worked a treat.

Yes, works as described, don't panic if 3"-4" of fork pokes through when you undo bolts - put a large socket over fork top and tap down to required level with hammer. :thumbup

Yes, 4 rings showing is the way to go!

I have never changed the front preload, rebound or compression on the front after putting the forks through the yokes.

4 rings is great, but also having the bike suspension setup makes it ride like nothing else.
If you have the Ohlin's if you want the settings that seem to work for me I would only be too happy to give you them.
just remember what you have it set at before you start so you can always put it back.
B

bruce said:

4 rings is great, but also having the bike suspension setup makes it ride like nothing else.
If you have the Ohlin's if you want the settings that seem to work for me I would only be too happy to give you them.
just remember what you have it set at before you start so you can always put it back.
B

Click to expand...

Bring it on. :thumbup.

I am sure that there would be others that have a set
and as this fromat is not goin too well!
first number for mine is where I started and the 2nd is where it is now (only one has a third, but that was a race setting used hard)

Front START FIRST SECOND
Preload - -
Sag-mm 24mm 27mm
Comp High C/T - -
Low Clicks 9 11
Rebound Clicks 9 7 6
Spring - -
Fork Oil - -
Air Gap - -


REAR
Preload - -
Sag-mm 8 8
Comp High C/T - -
Low Clicks 12 9
Rebound Clicks 16 19
Spring Weight - -
Ride Hight - -


Another set from MH racing
Shock wants to be 14 clicks out top and bottom Forks need to be 12 comp , 10 rebound and add 4 turns of preload,

I run both the road and track RSVRs at just over 4 rings above the yoke. The road bike is proper exciting on the B660 and doesn't like mini roundabouts, but the whole point of the bike is to be a bit more exciting than the standard superbike fodder.

Suspension setting will be dependent on how much you weigh. To set the compression damping I use a zip tie around one fork leg. Go for a run on a good bit of road as fast as you dare, then check the zip tie. If it's at the bottom you want a bit more compression damping until you have 10-15mm unused travel (for those emergency braking moments). For a track day 5mm spare is enough. On track I've found that you can't add much more pre-load than stock before it makes the bike hard to turn in. I'm only 10 stone, so if you're 15st, you'll be able to add more before there is a problem! Rebound damping changes have made minimal noticeable difference on road(RSVR) or track(Factory), but if you do need more pre-load a bit more rebound damping will probably be needed.

On the track bike this hugely unscientific approach has resulted in the following fork settings
Pre-load - 3/4 turn more than std
Comp Damping - 8 from Max
Rebound Damping - 2 more than std

Graveltrap said:

I run both the road and track RSVRs at just over 4 rings above the yoke. The road bike is proper exciting on the B660 and doesn't like mini roundabouts, but the whole point of the bike is to be a bit more exciting than the standard superbike fodder.

Suspension setting will be dependent on how much you weigh. To set the compression damping I use a zip tie around one fork leg. Go for a run on a good bit of road as fast as you dare, then check the zip tie. If it's at the bottom you want a bit more compression damping until you have 10-15mm unused travel (for those emergency braking moments). For a track day 5mm spare is enough. On track I've found that you can't add much more pre-load than stock before it makes the bike hard to turn in. I'm only 10 stone, so if you're 15st, you'll be able to add more before there is a problem! Rebound damping changes have made minimal noticeable difference on road(RSVR) or track(Factory), but if you do need more pre-load a bit more rebound damping will probably be needed.

On the track bike this hugely unscientific approach has resulted in the following fork settings
Pre-load - 3/4 turn more than std
Comp Damping - 8 from Max
Rebound Damping - 2 more than std

Click to expand...

To adjust the amount of fork travel is controlled by your air gap not the damping, if you are using all your travel you need more oil in the forks or different springs if you are a pie eater.
You can remove the fork cap and add oil in 5mm increments till you get the desired amount of travel left below the zip tie, as i said damping is not the answer to this problem.

If you add preload to the front it makes the bike ride higher therefore you need to raise the rear ride height or pull the forks through further to compensate, pulling the forks through to far will give ground clearance problems, so it is better to raise the rear.

Rebound makes a colossal difference to the bikes behavior, even 1 click on Ohlins, to much rebound will have the forks or shock packing down which is not good.

The first thing i would do to alter the weight distribution is raise the rear rather than pulling the forks.

Before you start you must get your sag in the right ballpark, bear in mind if you alter weight distribution you will probably need to alter damping as well due to loading or unloading one end or the other.

You must note all your settings before you start doing anything in case you make a pigs ear of things, you can resort back to where you were at least.

Suspension can be very confusing and what suits me will not necessarily suit another rider.

have fun:thumbup

I've done the scientific approach and it works on my RS250 race bike with springs for my weight and K-tech suspension that makes the budget Ohlins on a Factory look pretty average. On the road, with vastly varying surfaces, topography, speeds and conditions, the theory doesn't always work

To adjust the amount of fork travel is controlled by your air gap not the damping, if you are using all your travel you need more oil in the forks or different springs if you are a pie eater.

Click to expand...

Interesting, are you sure? I've always found that compression damping has a very sgnificant effect on fork travel. Also in previous experiments I found that reducing the air gap below 100mm buggers up the handling so much you'll have a lot more to worry about than fork travel.

Anyway each to their own